Hell Hath No Fury
by Quiet Harmony-chan
Summary: They say that a woman's scorn is worse than hell, well they have no idea about a brother's then. When Joshua's little sister is kidnapped and taken to Wonderland he jumps down the rabbit hole guns blazing. Yet Diamond Country is truly a strange place and will set him on a variety of paths, will any of them lead to his sister?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So both me and my brother like to read the Alice series. He likes it for the violence while I secretly like the romance aspect, however when we spoke a few months ago he said he didn't want me to go to Wonderland and if I did he'd kill everyone there. This gave me the idea to write about a brother going into Wonderland to save his younger sister who had become the foreigner. No this isn't a self insert, I'd probably hurry up and fill my vial so I could get home, but normal OCs.

Enjoy!

...

The crunching sound of static from the TV was what woke Joshua up. The sound made his head pound and a moan escape his lips as he sat up from the old couch, crumbs falling from his shirt onto the carpeted floors and an empty soda bottle rolling under the couch when his foot kicked it. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes for a moment as he got his bearings and looked around the small living room. It was somewhat cluttered with an entertainment center at the front of the room with a large screen TV and Wii U and PS3 game systems set on it. On the majority of the beige walls were colorful picture frames of all shapes and sizes. Each one had a picture of an older man with dark red hair and face full of freckles, a tall woman with a large smile always on her dark face, a younger version of Joshua who usually had a frown on his face and bruises all over his exposed body, and a young girl with large grey eyes that were always open and way too wide.

Moaning he kicked his other foot over the side of the couch and stood up, his back popping with the movement. Staggering to the window on the left side of the room he pushed aside the green curtains and winced when the sunlight got in his eyes, his hand moving to shield his them on reflex. "I need to stop crashing like that..."

"Yeah, your caffeine addiction is ridiculous."

Joshua glanced over his shoulder to see the girl in the picture just older. Her hair was still all over her head in a messy bun and her grey eyes were still much too wide in her head. "You wanna be the pot or the kettle?"

She rolled her eyes and set a cup of coffee on the table and turned off the TV before sitting on the couch with both legs tucked under her. "Coke isn't addictive, and if I had a choice I'd want to be a pot," A grin crossed her lips. "that way I could melt marshmallows and you could make coffee!"

"How considerate of you." He deadpanned before closing the window and lying back down on the couch ,after taking a much-needed sip of the coffee, putting his legs over the girl's much to her irritation. "What time is it anyway?"

"About ten," She said. "I tried to get you up an hour ago but you cussed me out."

He grunted and reached over to a small coffee table in front of the couch that had a large vase in the middle and a plethora of remotes and grabbed a large grey one. Upon turning it on he changed the input and a brightly colored menu filled the screen while some upbeat music blasted from the speakers. "Forgot about that."

"What?"

Joshua sat up properly and grabbed a red PS3 remote off the table and unpaused the screen showing a colorful video game world. "A long ass game, Bridgette. A long ass game."

The girl oh'd before yawning and leaning back in her chair. The two sat in comfortable silence for several minutes until they heard a shriek from upstairs followed by a heavy bang. Joshua sighed and picked up the coffee mug again and downed the rest of the aromatic yet bitter liquid as he heard footsteps go down the stairs. He needed to be fully awake if he was going to try to keep up with his mother.

"Bridgette, did you get Joshua up?"

"Yeah, he's downstairs with me!"

Seconds later his mother peered down the stairwell. "Oh, good. Joshua I need you to stay home today and watch Bridgette for me."

He paused his game again and looked up at his mother with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"I have a dinner meeting with some co-workers and will be home late." She put her hands on her hips. "I refuse to leave my baby here alone! What if someone breaks in and steals everything including your sister? I could never live with myself if that happened!"

Joshua didn't point out that they had a state of the art security system, that Bridgette had taken a year of self-defense classes, or that even if he was here that both of them could be kidnapped. His mother liked to think up the worst case scenario for something and blow it out of proportion. He glanced over to his empty coffee mug and immediately wished that there was more of it.

"I was going to go see a movie with Georgia today..."

"You can use the pay-per-view with your sister."

That was not the same thing at all. Sighing he pushed himself of the couch and walked up the stairs." 'Kay Mom, I'll watch her for today."

She laughed and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Dear, you're a life saver!" She took her phone out of her small hand purse. "Alright I'll go ahead and go, It'll take me an hour to get downtown."

Joshua watched his mother hurry down the rest of the stairs and kiss Bridgette before leaving the house with a final confession of love. Grunting a response the boy went to his room and quickly texted his friend.

_'Can't get to the movies.'_

A few moments later a ping sounded from his phone. _'Why? You dying?'_

_'Gotta watch my sister.'_

_'Really?' _A winking smiley face was next to the word which immedietly made his blood boil and throw the phone onto the neat pile of folded clothes on his desk. There was no way in hell he was even going to dignify that with an anwer. grabbing a pillow he put it over his head and laid there for a few moments, enjoying the quiet as he waited for the caffiene to kick in.

...

By noon Joshua had went back downstairs after tackling some of his weekend history homework. Bridgette was playing a Call of Duty game on the PS3 with several cans of Coke sitting on the table in front of her. She had by now changed out of her night clothes and into a pair of denim shorts that were much too short and a dark white tank top with one of his track jackets over it.

"You shouldn't run around in clothes like that." He said as he snatched up a coke can she had just put down and took a swig, the sweet liquid burning his throat and making his eyes water.

"I'm not going out like this, besides I covered up with your jacket."

The jacket he would have to get back when they went back to school. Leaving his sister to play her game he went into the kitchen and opened the stainless steel fridge, taking out some bread and apple jelly to make a sandwich. Behind him the sound of incessant shooting and occasional cheers from Bridgette echoed into this room just to mix with the humming from the fridge. All together creating a lazy atmosphere that made Joshua sleepy.

Going back into the living room he sat back down on the couch. "Alright I'm gonna go ahead and order us a pizza for dinner-"

"Can we watch a movie?"

He blinked as he got used to the fact he just got cut off. "...I guess?"

"Cool! I saw this awesome trailer for a horror movie earlier, we should totally watch it."

"I hope we see the whole thing, that's the point of watching a movie."

The girl rolled her eyes at his comment before shrieking when her character got shot. Rubbing his ear Joshua grabbed the house phone and called up a pizza parlor for a pepperoni pizza before grabbing the TV guide to find the movie section. afterwhile the doorbell rang making Bridgette jump up from her game. "I'll get it!"

"Yeah-" He paused mid sentence when he remembered what she was wearing. "I've got it."

"I can do it!"

He grabbed the back of his jacket as Bridgette dashed by and dragged the girl back to the couch, dodging her kicks as she fought against him. "You don't have money."

"Do too!" She yelped when he threw her onto the couch. "Watch it, my head almost hit the remote!"

"You'll live." He took out the money his mom had left behind out of his jean's pocket and ripped the door just enough for him to see out of. Instead of a pimply teenaged boy trying to make enough money to pay the gas for their car like Joshua imagined, it was a young woman with glasses. Giving a sigh of relief he opened the door all the way and properly payed her before taking the pizza and sitting it on the table.

"I hate you." Bridgette muttered as she grabbed the biggest slice out of the box.

"You'll get over it now find your damn movie."

She did as she was told before closing all the curtains and turning out all the lights to make the house as dark as possible. Joshua sighed as she crawled back over to him and snatched up another slice of pizza. "Don't come to me when you piss yourself."

"I won't, I'm not a baby!"

He rolled his eyes as the trailers rolled. A white rabbit jumped across the screen kicking up blood-red roses as he did so before all the roses create the first production company name, Wondrous Dreams INC. Eventually the actual movie came into play which turned out to be too boring for Joshua's tastes, Bridgette on the other hand was clinging to him the entire time with her eyes shut. By the end of the movie she had eventually fallen asleep, her soft snores buzzing in his ears.

Looking down at her he was reminded of when she was a little kid. She still slept with her mouth open and a tiny stream of drool went down her chin, her legs curled up to her chest and her hands clutched the nearest thing to him, in this case his arm, which now was going numb from the lack of blood circulation. "Hey, Bridegette."

"..."

"Bridgette!"

She moaned and flipped over. "Stop being annoying." She murmured.

"If you get your ass up I'll let you roast marshmallows."

Within seconds Bridgette was sitting upright and had let go of him. " I had the weirdest dream..."

Rubbing his arm to get the blood flowing he glanced over to his sister. "Not that I care."

"It was about a rabbit..." She said slowly, ignoring her brother's eye roll. "And when I followed it I couldn't catch up. The whole time someone, maybe the rabbit, talked about rules."

"You probably still want a rabbit for a pet." Joshua said as he picked up the pizza box to throw it away. "Or you're just bat shit crazy."

Bridgette glared and demanded an apology while Joshua went up stairs to go figure out where his mom hid the marshmallows while instructing his sister to get firewood out of the backyard. "And put some damn pants on!"

Going down the hall he opened up his mother's room and wrinkled his nose as the harsh and overwhelming scent of perfume made his nose hairs curl. Putting a hand over his nose he picked his way over the shoes, dresses, skirts, and other clothing articles to get to a closet on the far side of the room. Opening it up he found the inside mostly empty except for a few pairs of jeans and colorful shoe boxes stacked up at the top of the shelf. Pushing them to the side he only found a bottle of tequila.

Snatching it up he left the closet and went to her dresser and opened the drawer. Just as he did a high pitched scream made him pause in his actions and hs heart begin to pound. Dropping the alcohol he ran to the window and opened the window just to see a man grabbing his sister. "Hey asshole!"

The man looked up at him with a sneer on his cold face before adjusting his hold on Bridgette and running out of Joshua's field of vision. Growling he ran out of the room and back down the stairs. Going into the kitchen he ripped open a cabinet and pushed the casserole pans out of the way causing one to smash to the floor. Grabbing the rifle out of the cabinet he ran out the back door.

The sun had dipped behind the trees of their gigantic yard and cast an almost sinister shadow. The crickets began their nightly song as did the frogs and other nocturnal creatures. A cool wind came from the north that brought the smell of fire and barbecue sauce from the neighbors who would undoubtedly get drunk and party for hours. "Bridgette?"

The only sound was his echo that bounced off the trees. Gripping his gun he slowly walked to the corner of the house, the last place he saw the man and his sister, and looked over the area. The entire muddy field was empty except for a steadily shrinking hole in the middle of the field. Running over to it he took out a lighter and lit it so he could see what was at the bottom. The small flame didn't make a dent in the darkness yet it was the only thing that could explain his sister's whereabouts. Taking a deep breath and turned the safety on the gun and put it on his back before sitting on the very edge of it. He had never liked heights but this was the one time he could make an exception. Pushing his body forward he fell into the darkness that was the hole, embracing the adrenaline that coursed through his body.

_There'd be hell to pay._

...

A/N: So there you go!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Surprised that anyone even read this. **

**Elezan Tress: Thanks! I was hesitant to post it but since it got a good reaction I'll keep posting.**

**Sleeping Moon: You'll see soon, poor guy will feel like he entered an asylum that was run by the crazies. **

**Borislvr: Nice to see my guests responding! I'm glad you think so because Joshua may or may not be a badass.**

**...**

Falling felt like a never-ending process to Bridgette. At first she felt fear make her stomach flip-flop and her eyes tear but after awhile it become a monotonous and boring event that she wanted to just press the skip button on. Even the darkness and occasional shadow that would slip by failed to scare her at this point, the only thing that had retained its scare factor was the man above her. He had sharp mitch-matched colored eyes hidden by glasses and handsome yet cold features. He had taken this much better than she had, all he did was jump and let the hole take him to wherever the bottom was, unlike her initial screaming and flailing. If she could take it back she would because, by now, the guy probably thought she was a complete idiot who was brain-damaged.

Sighing she stared back down at the seemingly bottomless pit just to spy a faint light. It wasn't very impressive, it really just looked like a glimmer from a flashlight, and brought up a warm breeze that smelled heavily of pine. Ever so slowly the light began to expand until it shone in full force nearly burning the girl's now light sensitive eyes. The light was a relief yet at the same time she was reminded that this thing had a bottom.

A bottom that she could splatter on.

"Ah!" She tried to shift her body so her legs were facing downwards instead of her head. "I knew it was too good to be true!"

"Stop your whining." The man snapped and wrapped an arms arround her waist. The touch immediately sent a repulsive shudder down her spine, but she quickly forgot about it when a blurry patch of green and brown came to her field of vision. The Green quickly became tall and spindly pine trees while the brown became the ground with patches of grass all through out. All of a sudden the loud and obnoxious boom a bomb dropping rang through her ears and the ground instantly came closer. Yet instead of staring down at it from a high distance she could feel her shoes firmly planted on the ground.

"That wasn't that hard now-"

"THANK YOU GOD!" Bridgette dropped to her knees and felt the urge to cry. Never had she been so happy to actually be in the middle of nowhere in a place she didn't know. If she was utterly insane she would probably kiss her kidnapper, speaking of which...

She turned back to look at him. "Hey, jerk!"

"That's not my-"

"Why on earth did you kidnap me!?" She put her hands on her not so slender hips. "You can't do that it's illegal, and then you have the nerve to dump me in a hole! What does this go to, China?"

"I don't know what China is, but I brought you here because I was ordered to." The man scowled an reached into his pocket and pulled out a small glass vial with a diamond-shaped top filled with a curious blue liquid. "Now drink this."

"No."

His scowl turned into a full-blown glare and for a fraction of a second Bridgette thought she made the wrong choice in purposefully trying to piss him off. "Using a vial is unconventional here yet it is also part of the rules, so drink!"

"Why?" Her nose wrinkled. "What if that's a drug meant to instantly kill me?" Her eyes widened. "Or worse yet you'll rape me!"

"I don't have time for this." The girl backed up slightly when he pulled out a shiny black pistol that clearly didn't have the safety on. "Drink."

Cautiously extending a hand she took the vial and was surprised to find it cold even though the man had taken it out of his pocket. Popping the cap off she brought it to her nose and took a whiff and immediately brought it away from her face. Whatever was in the vial smelled sour like left over tomato sauce. "Do I have to drink it?"

A low click was her answer. Shutting her eyes Bridgette brough it to her lips and drank it down all in one gulp a shudder running through her body when she did. It tasted horribly bitter and she gagged trying to keep the stuff down. Breathing deeply through her nose she glared at the rabbit man. "Happy?"

"That shall suffice." And with that he turned on his heel and walked away.

"That's it?"

"What else did you want from me?" He said without even turning around.

She couldn't believe this. Why would he go through all the trouble of kidnapping her just to chuck her in a hole, drink a godawful liquid, and threaten her with a gun? She stared at his retreating figure for several moments before looking around. It was a nice little area, perfect for picnics and other family oriented gatherings. There weren't that many trees and the grass had small wildflowers dotting it. The dirt didn't create a path to anywhere yet in the distance she could see tha tall slender towers of a castle."I'm in Europe?"

If the rabbit guy worked for someone in that castle that means anyone could come and snatch her away. She needed to find an American Embassy and quick before the monarchy thought she was a witch and set her on fire or worse.

"But first..." She rolled up the waistband of her black sweat pants, they belonged to her brother and thus were too big for her, to stop them from dragging on the ground before taking three calming breaths. "Time to empty the tank."

Sticking her middle finger in her mouth she pushed it back as far as it would go before she began to gag. With little to no effort she doubled over and puking her guts out in a sloppy and disgusting puddle. With each heave she could taste something unbearably sweet and she silently wondered where it came from. When she was finally done she straightened up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Without all the pizza she consumed, five slices, she felt incredibly empty, yet she couldn't help but feel better knowing the drug was out of her stomach.

_"Now where to go?" _She didn't want to head the way the rabbit man went in case he was still around and the whole monarchy thing, but she didn't see any other sign of life in any other direction. She turned around fully and stared at the sky in the distance narrowing her eyes against the mid-morning sun. That's when she saw it, a few tiny squiggles that almost blended in with a handful of clouds. _"A town?"_

Unless it was a tiny cottage in the woods. Or maybe it was a cabin? What if that cabin turned out to be a sacrificial site, or a crazy murderer lived there, or her perverted and questionable cousin?! She placed her hands over her ears and let out a dry high-pitched scream that made a few birds fly out of the trees. When her lungs were empty she put her hands in the pocket and walked towards the mysterious smoke in the distance.

**...**

As far as Bridgette was concerned she hated nature. The very idea of nature at this point was beginning to piss her off. Climbing over a fallen log she yelped when she nearly tripped when her pants legs got caught.

"Come on!" She gripped the fabric and gave it a hard yank before falling over and skinning her hand against a pine cone. Hissing she retracted her hand and stood up again and kicked the log. "Stupid nature, why do you hate me! So what if I'm too lazy to walk to a recycling bin instead of throwing my trash into a garbage can, or like to drive big cars, or flush my toilet with a whole five gallons, or even-"

She stopped mid-sentence as she noticed the sky. It had changed from a lazy looking mid-morning sky to a dying sunset. The air around her instantly began to chill and she pulled her hands into the tan track jacket. That definitely had to be an effect from the drug she took there was no way that the sky just changed. Shuddering as a cold wind whipped through the forest she pressed ahead and noticed that the forest slowly began to break into a clearing. Soon there was only a smattering of trees and those all lined a dirt road. Picking up her pace the dirt soon changed to a grey cobble stone before she made it into a town.

A few people loitered the streets while a few others would go in and out of the small stone buildings that were in need of repair. Dirt clung to the streets and stray dogs ran about as if eager to jump someone should they have a meal. Even though the surroundings were rather dismal the people seemed okay with it a few even smiling as they went on their way. The small houses soon broke until they became shops and the handful of people quickly swelled into at least a hundred of them. They were crowded everywhere in between shops and market stalls all of them chattering over the calls of the shop owners who tried to entice the people into buying their wares.

Bridgette walked the crowd with her hood up and head down in an attempt to be discreet. It had become rather obvious the minute she stepped into the town that she wasn't going to fit in very well. All of the women here wore dresses that went down to their ankles or swept the cobbled stone walk. Even the men wore strange clothes, pants made of cloth and shirts that were buttoned up and had suspenders or very fancy clothes. Yet that wasn't even the strangest thing...

All of them lacked faces.

Well that would be exaggerating somewhat. The truth was that all of the people in the town lacked eyes. She would have passed this off as just an effect of the drug and cold but something deep inside her gut warned her to keep her hood up. Warned was an understatement, it had practically screamed at her. Sighing she went over to an empty bench and sat down her weary muscles instantly thanking her for it. Leaning her head against the warm stone wall behind her she shut her eyes and mindlessly listened to the noise around her. The sound was almost comforting, a bit of normality in the madness that she had endured for the past few hours. A hint of a smile graced her lips and she burrowed deeper into her jacket content to sleep on the bench for the night.

Yet that was quickly ruined when she felt someone touching her. The hands were very delicate as if afraid to wake her up. At first she did nothing deciding the hands would leave if she showed no interest, but her entire body stiffened when she felt the hand dive into her jacket pocket and remove a heavy object. Her eyes opened and she watched as a retreating figure went to mingle in the crowd. "Hey!"

She stood up and ran into the crowd pushing people out of the way. Even though the item in question didn't belong to her she was terrified to know what her brother would do should he find his prized cellphone missing. That boy had it with him at all times and always got in a hissy fit when he found it missing.

It was like his coffee except it made him less productive.

Catching out to catch the figure's shoulder she nearly reached it when they turned a sharp left. The girl skidded to a halt, nearly knocking into a produce stand, and followed full on until she noticed the figure had turned around to reveal a boy. He was perhaps her age and would have been considered handsome if he had eyes. Next to him were three other boys all around his age and all lacking eyes.

"Looks like this one followed after us." He gave a crooked grin and put his hand in his pocket. "Now me thinks he wants his stuff back."

They thought she was a guy? She opened her mouth to set them straight but once again her gut kindly told her not to. She wished she could have a conversation with her gut so she could tell it to leave her alone but decided to listen anyway.

Lowering her voice she said. "Yeah it's mine so give it back."

"And why should we be doin' that?"

She crouched down and held up her fists ready to fight these guys. She had taken a one year self-defense training at the insistence of her brother after her parents could no longer afford it he had painstakingly taught her everything he knew. She couldn't hold her own in a fight, but she would do the best she could to get the phone back then run like hell.

The onlooker boys began to oh and cheer their leader on, apparently Gavin, as he pushed up his dirty white shirt sleeved up to his elbows and get into his own fighting stance. Silently giving her first and perhaps last prayer she let out a yell and lashed out at him. The punch barely made its mark due to him dodging, but the contact of her fist on his shoulder was still evident to Bridgette and that brought her a boost of confidence. This was almost dosed, however, when the boy brought his own fist down to punch her in the stomach. She gagged and was nearly knocked over by the sheer pain of the experience. It felt as if her stomach had just pushed itself up to her heart. She barely had time to dodge another punch that would have landed straight to her back.

Stumbling back she straightened herself up and blocked a punch to the face and another one that wanted to land on her chest. Seeing a window of opportunity she decked him in the chin at the expense of her finger popping painfully.

The boy stumbled back somewhat yet laughed anyway. "That all ya got? Ya hit like a girlie."

She was a girl she wanted to say but took his time of monologuing to punch him in the mouth. She quickly retracted her arm and almost cheered when she saw that there was blood smeared on her knuckles. But while she was mentally celebrating the boy growled and lashed out and punched her square in the face. The pain was excruciating and she felt the entire world spin as she fell to the ground. She could feel a warm liquid pull from her nose and knew that it had to be broken. Blinking and rolling onto her back she could see the four boys gawking at her with their mouths wide open. She didn't have the energy to state a question or even raise an eyebrow, all she could do was openly staredat them.

Two of the boys back up and ran out of the alley way the third quickly following. All that was left was the leader who had only taken a single step backwards. "Y-you're a Roleholder?"

The world's spinning quickened and she could feel her stomach heaving. She put all her energy into raising up a hand but that quickly died as she dropped it and her eyes began to close. Around her she could hear the fleeting sound of feet running against pavement getting further, a town getting quieter, and her own heavy breathing.

**...**

**I know a lot of you are upset that I posted a chapter that led directly to Bridgette but think its importaint that you see her side of the story to. I'll go straight back to Joshua after this then back to Bridgette until either one of them die or they reunite. Anyway I jope you all enjoyed this chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey! So here's the next chapter from Joshua's POV. Sorry it took so long to update, was really procrastinating here. **

**Elezan Tress: I noticed. I actually have a story where the foreigner gets with a faceless. I actually don't mind killing off characters. ^_^ Once a week if I don't feel lazy.**

**Borislvr: Her hood was up so it would have to be when it came down. Here ya go!**

**...**

Joshua wasn't even aware of the fact that he had fallen down the never-ending hole. The whole trip, to him, had barely lasted a second as he walked down the dusty path with his gun firmly in hand and eyes screwed ahead unblinking. He was going to get his sister back from the crazy dumbass who dared to take his little sister. The last time someone had taken her without his knowledge it hadn't ended well and had prompted Georgia to begin making..._claims._

He could practically see the text messages now making a shudder go down his spine and bile rise in his throat. Shaking the memory away he sped up yet began to notice the scenery now that he was no longer so focused on his sister. He was in a slightly forested area that had a dusty dirt road that winded a long ways into a distant area he could see dotted with white. The skies were a blazing red that threatened to set the world aflame yet it was chilly outside and made Joshua wish his sister would stop stealing his clothes all the time.

The journey quickly became long, boring, and monotonous. Each tree that passed began to look the same and the sun refused to properly set in the sky. More than once he checked his watch and found that time was moving on properly. _"Maybe this place has different time zones?"_

Speaking of 'this place' where was he? Falling down holes and finding a forest wasn't natural? Maybe it was actually a portal and he was just halfway across South Carolina? If that was the case all he needed to do was find the other half of the portal and bounce back in...Or a portal gun, that could work too.

_**BANG!**_

Birds shrieked and flew into the air while their feathers flew down like confetti. Joshua stopped in the middle of the road and held up his gun, ready to shoot the incoming threat. For several moments he stayed in the position, his heart hammering against his ribs until the image of a person appeared on the horizon. They ran at top speeds with a pistol in hand, occasionally turning back to shoot at something behind them. They didn't seem to notice Joshua and would have run into his gun if he didn't quickly move out-of-the-way, tripping the man with his foot in the process. The man fell to the ground with a heavy thud and he quickly flipped onto his back, pointing the pistol at the boy. Joshua's blue eyes widened considerably as he stared at the man's face, unable to say anything.

"I paid the bastard in full!"

Joshua stared down the barrel of his gun, not willing to move the thing that could save his life. "What the hell are you talking about? And where the fuck are your eyes?!"

The man raised a bushy eyebrow. "You're not a Roleholder?"

"The hell is that?"

Joshua followed the man's movements as he slowly got up, a few moans escaping past his chapped lips. When he was finally on his own two feet he held out a hand encrusted with dirt. "Thanks, name's Jackson."

Joshua stared at the hand for several seconds before taking it. The man's handshake was firm and left plenty of dirt on his own hand. Wiping it off on his pant's leg he was about to turn away when Jackson grabbed his shoulder. "Wait, wait, wait! You haven't told me your name, foreigner."

"And you never answered my question, looks like neither of us is getting what we want."

The man scratched the back of his head. "You did ask a question, didn't you?" His smile faltered under Joshua's blank stare. "W-well, I'm a Faceless."

"Faceless?"

Jackson nodded. "I don't got a role so I don't got a face."

The boy stared at him for several moments confusion going through his system. He'd never heard something so stupid in his entire life. It sounded like one of those new age life books that claimed that everyone had a place in this big wide world. Even if that wasn't the case why should he listen to someone who was just shooting wildly like they were dead drunk. But this guy could lead him to civilization and ultimately his sister...

Hesitantly lowering his gun he extended a hand. "Damien." There was now way in hell he was giving out his real name.

The man took it eagerly and shook it with enough force to nearly rip his arm out of socket. "Can't believe I'm meeting a honest to God foreigner! Just wait until my wife meets you, this will make her day!"

Joshua ripped his hand out of Jackson's grasp, immediately cringing when he noticed the dirt that had transferred there. "I never said I was going home with you."

"You already have a place to stay?"

Joshua made to retort but paused when he caught a glimpse of the sky. It was evening now, and even if it seemed to take forever, it would eventually become night-time. He didn't have his wallet on him right now and thus couldn't pay for a room at some cheap sex motel. Grinding his lower teeth for a moment he eventually sighed and ran a hand through his short brown hair. "Fine."

"Really?!"

He nodded. "I don't have a place to go..."

The boy nearly yelled when Jackson grabbed him and began to go down the trail, arm in arm no less. Jabbering the whole way about his wife, house, and how interesting this was going to be.

**...**

Apparently Jackson lived inside the poorer section of a busy town. It was one of those grey cobble stone ones that looked like it had popped out of a European tour guide pamphlet. The streets were clinging with dirt, stray dogs, and dirty water that refused to go down into a sewer clogged with leaves. As they went to a small house wedged between a butcher and tobacco shop a middle-aged man walked over to them. He, like most of the other people Joshua had seen, lacked eyes. "Jackson I'm surprised to see you alive!"

The man grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Lady luck's on my side, I guess."

"Or that Roleholder you've got."

Joshua snorted yet said nothing, instead allowing Jackson to correct the mistake. "Nope, this guy here is a foreigner!"

"Really?" The man tilted his head to the side, causing his saggy cheeks to flop around. "I thought all of 'em were girls."

"I gu-"

"You saw another foreigner!"

The man nodded. "She ran by my shop two time changes ago. Small thing looked scared."

Joshua ripped his arm out of Jackson's and took his gun off his back making the man flinch. "Which wa-"

The sky suddenly shifted to-night, the air instantly becoming so chill that he could feel the hair on his arms stand on end.

Jackson patted Joshua's shoulder. "Looks like you'll have to wait until the next time change. Bet you can't see anything in this dark."

The boy frowned as he stared at the sky. "How-"

"That's a time change, completely normal." He walked up to the house. "Now let's see Julie, she's probably worried."

Joshua soundlessly followed still staring at the man who had by now was walking up to the tobacco shop. It wasn't until they walked into the small house that he finally looked ahead of him and was immediately met with the sight of a woman. She was over weight yet had a large smile on her mouth and a clean dress on. "Jackson, you're alright!"

"Even you, Julie?"

The woman put her hands over her small mouth. "Well you _do _owe Mr. Bermuda quite a bit..."

"Well my luck might be changing!" He slapped Joshua on the back, making the boy lurch forward and cough. "This is Damien, a bonified foreigner!"

The woman gasped and grabbed his hands in her own. "Really? You're really a foreigner?"

"Sure."

She let go of his hands, placing one on her forehead and staggered back. "My goodness. My goodness!" She gestured behind her. "Ya'll's food is done, just go ahead and eat up. I-I need time to sit down and think."

Jackson kissed his wife's cheek and moved through the small house leaving Joshua to stand awkwardly at the door. The house could actually be called a room since it was just one room with plenty of stuff shoved in it. There was a stone fireplace in the back of it with a stool and a straight back chair in front of the small blaze, Jackson was sitting on the stool right now. On the fireplace was a long metal pole and a hook that was connected to it. On the hook was a large pot that had a warm and zesty smelling liquid boiling out of it. There was several trunks stacked behind the chairs, all of them shut and made of dark wood. In the corner was a pile of hay that had a thick blanket folded up on top of it.

He couldn't take from these people, they barely had enough for themselves. Quietly backing up he opened the door quickly going out into the night before anyone could stop him.

**...**

There was something exciting about walking around a town at night. There was only a handful of people walking around, most of those drunks and prostitutes, and you coud properly take in a new place without any distractions. In Joshua's case he could look for a girl who was more than likely on the streets thanks to her lack of funds without having anyone looking at him strangely.

Every alley way he would stop and peek around until he was sure there was no one there. Each time he was met with disappointment and anger when all he found was a prostitute and some guy getting busy on top of a garbage can. By now he was on the edge of the town and once again facing a forest. This one was just as sparse as the other one he had been in, yet it had an obvious path that led to dim lights. Taking the gun off his shoulder he began the treck into the forest ready for anything that came his way.

The crunch of the leaves and the quiet chirp of crickets was the only thing to accompany him. Yet at every turn Joshua was ready to pull the trigger and blow anything's head off. It wasn't that he was scared, he rarely was, but the fact that he didn't know what would pop up. A cold sweat began to go down his face as he went deeper into the forest and the light from the, apparent house, began to burn brighter. Pretty soon he could actually see the house fully and the massive iron wrought gate in front of it.

A soft click suddenly sounded and Joshua immediately backed up as he saw a shrouded figure walk up to him. "What's this?"

**...**

**A/N: Hey! ll finished with the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! So who do you think was at the gate?**


End file.
